It was a wonderful day. Danny had gotten an okay grade on Mr. Falluca's test, he had been able to go to the nasty burger with Sam and Tucker who didn't get into a stupid argument this time, and the only ghost who had bothered him all day was the Box Ghost who he had been able to catch within ten minutes. It had started sprinkling when he captured the Box Ghost, and soon enough it was pouring rain. Danny decided to go for a flight since his curfew wasn't for a couple hours.
Besides, he always liked to fly in the rain, and since there was no sign of thunder or lightning it would be safe to do so tonight. (He wasn't very eager to fly when there was a possibility of being electrocuted again.) Hunters weren't usually willing to go out into the rain just to hunt ghosts, and when they did, it was harder for them to aim their weapons with the water distorting their vision.
After about an hour of flying around, it started to rain harder and the winds started to pick up. It was getting difficult to see what was five feet in front of him, and he couldn't fly at a leisurely pace without being thrown around by random gusts of wind. Then the thunder and lightning began to crash and Danny decided he was done flying for the day. He headed towards Fentonworks to escape the now slightly terrifying storm. Once he got there, he fazed through the wall, and sat on the couch in the living room. He then shifted to his "human" form. He was one of the lucky few types of ghosts able to shapeshift to look more human. He had used this trick to avoid discovery for almost a year. Unfortunately, this time he hadn't noticed his parents climbing up the basement stairs.
Jack and Maddie had just finished up the new and improved ecto-pistol. The old design kept overheating after a certain amount of blasts which proved to be dangerous after Jazz got a nasty burn on her hand trying to defend their house from ghosts. After hours of constant trial and error they had finally found a solution, but now it was getting late and they hadn't eaten dinner yet, or lunch, or breakfast, so Maddie placed a green ghost sticker on the gun to differentiate it from the old version, and they began their ascent up the stairs to the main floor to get some food before they put the kids to bed. They had just reached the top of the stairs when they saw Phantom come through the wall and land on their couch. Then before their very eyes, he turned into their son, Danny. Maddie was speechless, she did not know what to think. Jack however was furious. He lifted the ecto-pistol and a shot rang out, missing it's core by just a couple inches.
The ghost screamed. It was an unholy and pitiful sound, It then turned to see who had shot it. It froze upon seeing Jack and Maddie and suddenly started flying like a bat out of hell to avoid a second shot and escape the building, not even waiting long enough to drop it's disguise.
Rushing footsteps could be heard from the stairs leading to the higher levels. Jazz appeared at the bottom, her face contorted in worry. "I heard screaming, what happened?" She asked.
Jack ignored her, he started to walk towards the door. "Stay inside, I'm going after it."
Jazz became frustrated at how she was being ignored and her worry grew. "Going after what? What's going on." She shouted.
Maddie then spoke for the first time since leaving the lab. "My baby boy." It was soft, barely audible. Her eyes were wide with shock and she looked as if she was about to cry.
Jazz then started to panic. She spun to face her father and asked, "Dad, did you shoot Danny?"
Jack sneered in response, his face scrunching up in disgust as he glared at the puddle of ectoplasm on the couch. "That wasn't Danny, that was a ghost impersonating my son."
Jazz's face grew pale. "Oh my god, you shot Danny." She whispered.
"No, I shot a ghost." Jack retorted, frustration lacing his voice.
"Dad!" Jazz shouted, desperate for him to understand, "Danny is a ghost! He has been for over a year! And you just shot him!" She grew more frantic with every syllable.
By this point, Maddie was starting to fall apart. She was frozen with her hands covering her mouth, tears were rolling down her face. "My baby." She whispered.
Jazz began to pull herself together. "We need to find him." She spoke with assertiveness, taking control of the situation. "Mom, can you get that boomerang ghost tracker?"
Maddie did not move, still frozen in place due to the shock. "Mom?" Jazz tried to get Maddie's attention.
Maddie snapped out of her stupor and stuttered a response. "R-Right. Yes I, I can do that." She rushed downstairs to find the tracker. Jazz then turned towards the door.
"I'll start up the car." she said.
Jack, feeling guilty, decided to offer his help as well. "And I'll-"
"No!" Jazz exclaimed frantically. She then composed herself and explained "I mean, That might not be such a good idea. You just shot him, I don't think seeing you would help calm him down right now. I'm sorry." And she did seem sorry, extremely so.
Jack's face fell even more at her words. Suddenly, Maddie climbed up the basement stairs with the tracker. "Got it." she exclaimed as she ran towards the two.
Jazz looked at Jack, feeling bad for him she decided to say something to assure him. "Just wait here, we'll bring him back, then you can apologise." she then ran out the door and to the car, with Maddie not far behind.
And so he waited, and waited. An hour later he got a phone call from the police. There had been an accident, a semi had lost control in the rain and crashed into several smaller cars. His wife and daughter were dead.